


Identity

by SoWrongButSoWrite (CinnaStarks)



Series: Metamorphosis [2]
Category: Fallout: New Vegas
Genre: Amnesia, F/M, Father-Daughter Relationship, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-24
Updated: 2014-09-24
Packaged: 2018-02-18 15:23:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,037
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2353169
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CinnaStarks/pseuds/SoWrongButSoWrite
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Though tangled in a war that she never enlisted into, Six still manages to find time to hunt for what Benny's bullet took from her and protect those that need it. It's a good thing she's not alone.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Identity

**Author's Note:**

> What happens when I realize how similar Arcade and James are. From there, the idea just snowballed into what will most likely turn into a series.
> 
> Edit 10/31/2014: It turned into a series! This oneshot takes place before Found.

It had been too long since Arcade had the chance to mull over a problem that didn't involve some sort of chemical reaction. From trying to reason with junkies who could recite every drug they had gotten a high from but not the alphabet to countless failed attempts at finding substitutes for stimpacks, all of his work with the Followers had boiled down to a formula or two. It wasn’t something he could ever truthfully say that he hated, but variety was a beautiful thing that Arcade had somehow forgotten to miss.

Joining Courier Six had helped him remember.

Though Arcade could have done without the constant encounters with creatures that thought he would make a fine meal, it was what he needed after a long stay at the Fort. Six, an amnesiac who had been forcefully tangled in a web of Mojave politics, was good company even if her taste in snipers was questionable. Especially so, Arcade observed, on nights she didn’t have to spend scraping dried blood from her tanned skin. Six wasn’t hesitant about killing any threat to her or her companions, but the dead look that clouded her eyes after the adrenaline rush had worn off made it too clear to Arcade that the act was more draining than anything.

Tonight was the first in a long time where the fire in her eyes matched the intensity of the one that blazed in front of them. Her first companion, the sniper, was at the foot of the cliff they had camped out on. Usually, that meant a chance for them to sleep, but neither Arcade nor Six had moved a muscle since he had left. Though no blood was shed that day, they had heard something that affected them both.

 _“Aren’t you a little old to have your daddy escorting you across this desert?”_  The only thing that had been ruined was the pants of the fool who had said that, forever stained by the whiskey Six had “accidentally” spilled on his lap. It could have been worse, though, if Arcade had not been pulling her out the saloon’s door.

They hadn’t spoken of it since, but what was there to say? Of all the things that could have come up, it had to have been one of the few that they both struggled with. Arcade’s memory of his father had faded away with age and Six’s, obliterated by a nine millimeter. Discussion of it would only lead them down more bridges to nowhere.

But Six, curled up in the firelight with brown streaks of dirt and dust across her face and arms, looked _innocent._ She was at least ten years Arcade’s junior and had no family to run back to, only a mission that had already involved more bloodshed than anyone should have witnessed at that young age. Any support, however pointless it was, couldn’t have hurt.

“You don’t remember anything about your parents.” He finally said.

She replied before he could even think of apologizing. “Nope.” Her eyes stayed on the fire, glistening with tears that had formed hours prior but never got the chance to fall. “No sights or sounds, at least.”

Both relieved she hadn’t bitten his head off and intrigued, Arcade pressed on. “But the other senses, you ca-“

“To an extent.” Muscled arms pulled her knees in closer to her chest. “You know that spare lab coat you thought was stolen?” He nodded.  “I keep it in my bedroll because it’s the first thing that really reminded me of something from my past, something I can’t pinpoint.” She glanced at him as if waiting for a sarcastic remark that would not come. “Sorry if that’s creepy, I just-“

Against his better judgment, Arcade wrapped his right arm around Six’s shoulders and pulled her closer. “Six, I’m a doctor.” He said. “Helping people is kind of a requirement.”

“Yeah.” Her cracked lips twisted into a small smile. “I just can’t stop thinking about what that prospector said, y’know?”

Arcade rolled his eyes. “Despite the fact that I was old enough to do so around the time you were born, I can say with one hundred percent certainty that there isn’t a mini-Arcade running Wasteland never mind one with your physical prowess.”

“Knew that soon, eh?”

“You could say that. I wasn’t one for socializing in general when I was young but, when I finally started to be, yeah.” A small pit began to form in Arcade’s stomach. “But, contrary to what the Mormons preach, I’m still perfectly capable of filling that role.” Overworked fingers tossed a leaf into the fire. His throat grew dry. “Not that I’m exactly an expert on the subject.”

The very beginnings of a laugh escaped Six’s lips. “You’ve been doing a bang up job so far.” Her smile widened. “Even if my family’s out there somewhere, waiting for their little girl to come back home-“ Six pressed her free hand onto of his. “-I think they’ll be glad to know that I had a smart assed, gay dad watching over me while I saved the wasteland from two equally corrupt factions.”

“And Boone?”

Six’s looked into the darkness that their sniper had wandered into for his watch. Front teeth found her lower lip. “I watch over him.” What little happiness that had lit her eyes up was now gone. In its place, Arcade noticed, was a familiar solemnness. Julie epitomized it whenever someone came in with a disease they couldn’t treat. They had both experienced too much to want anymore, but a flicker of hope still made its way into their gaze. It was what had kept Arcade with the Followers, however hopeless it had been, and it had been what had convinced him to leave with Six.

“Deus quem punire vult dementat.” He looked above the fire and into the darkness beyond. “Whom God will destroy, he first make mad.” A gunshot rang out into the night followed by the distinct howl of a coyote’s last breath. Breakfast. “Of all the ideas you’ve suggested, saving that asshole from his self-fulfilling prophecy just might be the most insane.” Arcade pulled Six into a tighter embrace. “But, if anyone can do it, it’s you.”


End file.
